By Beverly Postma, executive director of Food Industry Asia
As the deadline for the creation of single common market across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) fast approaches, the food industry has stepped up to demonstrate that the private sector can play a meaningful role in accelerating the...
A newly developed strain of rice tolerant to levels of salt found in seawater might become available to farmers in the next four to five years, and its impact on food security could be massive.
Probiotic leader Chr Hansen is targeting dairy players with an L. Lactis probiotic strain it says produces vitamin K at significant enough levels to utilise approved health claims.
Connell Brothers has signed an exclusive agreement with Ganeden Biotech to market the American company’s GanedenBC30 priobiotic across the Asia-Pacific region. Connell plans to begin distribution immediately, beginning with Southeast and North Asia.
Health claims in food and beverage products is perhaps the most talked about topic in the entire food production chain outside of GM. In mature markets like the US—and now Australasia—at least there has been frameworks implemented to rationalise the claim-making...
Asia’s Muslim-majority countries should see Western nations as a viable and potentially lucrative market for their halal products, according to a leading food marketing consultant.
New Zealand’s Taura Natural Ingredients plans to launch a new range of concentrated fruit pieces for bakery and foodservice operators in Asia. The products will fit in the premium category and will be specific to the niche.
Sri Lanka looks destined to build the world’s largest polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging resin plant with an investment of over US$500m dollars.
Better food fortification initiatives are required to tackle the global problem of hidden hunger that accounts for 10% of health costs, a Nestlé-sponsored congress heard in Germany today.
In just the first weekend of new regulations designed to prohibit the trafficking of infant formula out of Hong Kong, border patrols had already arrested around 45 traders.
Oxfam will step up its campaign to improve the treatment of people and resources that form part of the supply chain of the world’s biggest food conglomerates, after it cast industry responses to its damning Behind the Brands report as ‘bland’ and ‘complacent’.
Unilever and Nestlé say Oxfam missed an opportunity for a wider and more comprehensive debate about food ethics after the NGO published a damning report on the supply chains of the world’s biggest food firms this week.
Associated British Foods – worst-in-class in an Oxfam report critical of 10 food giants for essentially operating under a corporate social responsibility (CSR) “veil of secrecy” – has hit back, slamming the report ‘s findings as “ridiculous”.
Already a mainstay in the Middle East ingredients market, Dohler has now announced further expansion in the region following its acquisition of the fruit processing and flavour unit of Delta Aromatic in Egypt.
Just got off the phone to Ola Snove, the new(ish) CEO of Aker part-owned Norwegian omega-3 specialist Epax. Wanted to know his view on high-end omega-3 prospects that have attracted BASF and DSM to the sector. His word: “Stellar”.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Dubai have been granted final approval to become the first Middle Eastern country to export dairy products into the European Union (EU), one of the region’s largest camel milk producers has revealed.
Diageo is in an arguably stronger market position than multinational peer SAB Miller due to its core exposure to spirits rather than beer, according to one City analyst who covers the firm.
Revamped, more complete product lines that are connecting with new customers are driving growth in the sports nutrition market, according to a new report.
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has defended its work with the global food industry, saying it is a vital partner in nutrition-changing efforts in the developing world and does not represent a conflict of interest (COI).
Clinching global culture club membership by swigging Pepsi or Coke is not enough for soft drinks consumers in emerging markets, who are increasingly swayed by regional tastes, according to Euromonitor International.
The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo are looking to shift bottling assets onto strong franchise partners in order to refocus in house efforts on brand building and marketing.
Growing consumer awareness of their own deficiencies, its health benefits, and the emergence of innovative forms are making magnesium the ‘the hottest ingredient in the mineral category’.
With Muslim countries fast waking up to the potential halal exports hold, and nations scrambling to become hubs for the distribution of Islamically acceptable meat, Pakistan is lagging behind the pack but still has the potential to improve its standing.
A noted Saudi cleric has told a Gulf television news channel that any food, apart from meat, that is cooked or prepared by non-Muslims is halal, and so can be eaten by Muslims.
Food and beverage companies need to ‘redefine’ the concept of age in 2013 to seize specific growth opportunities presented by older consumers, according to Leatherhead Food Research.
It is well known that most food shoppers are women, but does the food industry get that in its marketing? Not really, says female marketing expert, author and CEO of The Female Factor, Bridget Brennan.
Heineken strongly denies to BeverageDaily.com that the resignation of several high-profile managers from its recent $6.53bn acquisition Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) attests to unrest at the Singapore-based firm.
A new Israeli study, published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, claims to have demonstrated for the first time that InFat advanced lipids, a high beta-palmitate fat blend, provides beneficial effects for the health and well-being...
Saudi Arabia is the latest Asian country to suspend beef imports from Brazilian. It is now also the biggest country to stop purchases after the South American country confirmed a case of atypical mad cow disease in 2010.
Kit Lai, director of Tetra Pak’s Soya- and Coconut Knowledge Centers, discusses the global growth of coconut water and soya milks as categories, and the firm's latest formulation and processing innovations.
Swiss biotech firm Evolva has bought failing Fluxome’s, yeast-derived resveratrol business for about €550,000 in cash and shares, but says it has no interest in the remaining omega-3 business being sold by sealed auction.
Nestlé has amplified its nutrition presence by forming a joint venture to develop Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM). Orally consumed gastro products will be first off the rank based on an extract from the andrographis paniculata plant grown in Indian...
INDUSTRY VOICES: HEAD OF AKTIEFOKUS CHINA, JACOB DE LICHTENBERG
In this guest article, Jacob de Lichtenberg, head of Aktiefokus China, gives BeverageDaily.com readers the lowdown on Tsingtao Brewery’s plans to build a brewery in Henan province, where beer production is booming.
Chr. Hansen says it has high hopes in Asia and elsewhere for its new natural coloring ingredient for beverages, Ultra Stable Red, and claims investing in natural colors strips out costs elsewhere in the supply chain.
“I know what people are thinking as they head out for a Big Mac, large fries and cola: why not make it a lighter meal and opt for diet- or zero-calorie Coke—or now, a Pepsi Special?” reasons Rashi Chowdhary, a Dubai-based nutritionist.
The rise of the Japanese owner of 7Eleven is synonymous with the charge of grocery retail in Asia, and backs up the latest study by Euromonitor into the subject.
A combination of factors is expected to drive demand growth in the vegetable oils market over the next few years, with demand from the food sector being led by a number of emerging economies, most prominently in the Asia-Pacific region.
Rampant nutrition business acquirer, Royal DSM, has splashed the cash for the ninth time in two years – this time to the tune of €495m ($634m) on US-based multinational nutrient blending giant, Fortitech (€212m/$270m annual turnover).
Royal DSM saw Q3 sales slip 7% to €2.3bn across all divisions with polymer intermediates performing worst, but as has been the case in recent quarters, the Dutch firm’s nutrition cluster held firm with 1% organic growth in difficult economic times.
Greenpeace has published a scorecard rating palm oil producers’ sustainability efforts, in order to provide food and other consumer goods companies with better information about how their palm oil is produced.
The agri-food sector in Australia and New Zealand will have to overcome a host of barriers if it is to tap the opportunities presented by rapidly developing Asian countries, and the biggest of these hurdles is capital.
Kraft Foods global snacks spin-off Mondelez International has appointed Patrick T. Siewert to its Board of Directors to increase its knowledge of the emerging Asian market.
Australian, Japanese, South Korean, Taiwanese and other Asian consumers are driving rising demand in omega-3 source krill to levels that have prompted Norwegian krill supplier, Rimfrost, to ink a production-boosting joint venture.
Research by Euromonitor has revealed that pre- and probiotics have been continually attracting new consumers in the United Arab Emirates, with growth becoming consistently strong across the segment.
Asia’s cocoa grind for the third quarter has remained essentially flat compared to last year after growth in the previous two quarters, figures released yesterday show.
After Heineken successfully netted Asia Pacific Breweries (APB), CEO and chair Jean-François van Boxmeer told investors that there were ‘six key reasons’ why the capture was compelling.
The seventh edition of the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting closed in Laos’s capital with a declaration that emphasised the concern of the countries involved in “ensuring food security in the current situation of global climate change.”
Last week saw a furious row between researchers in France and their critics from around the world after they published new findings on the effect of genetically modified Roundup maize when it is fed to rats.
